


OCD: Overly Cat-Focussed Decor

by ownedbyacat



Series: Tom and Jerry Tales [2]
Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Gen, M/M, Tom & Jerry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-13
Updated: 2013-06-13
Packaged: 2017-12-14 22:03:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/841868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ownedbyacat/pseuds/ownedbyacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ty's home is not what it was before he left on deployment... and it's Zane's fault</p>
            </blockquote>





	OCD: Overly Cat-Focussed Decor

Yes, Zane could be sappy. That wasn't news to Ty Grady. What had come as a surprise was the unbelievable level of sappiness the man could reach without even trying.

Just a brief walk around their home the previous evening had shown Ty that things had changed dramatically since he'd been sent on deployment. Tom and Jerry had taken over the house, courtesy of their dotty, gullible caretaker. The spare bedroom with the solidly constructed kitten pen wouldn't house any guest for the foreseeable future. One corner of the front room had acquired a floor-to-ceiling climbing frame and his loon of a partner now kept books about kitten behaviour on the coffee table in the lounge.

The notebooks lying all over the house were even funnier. He had spotted them the previous night, but had been too preoccupied getting reacquainted with Zane and reminding himself that he was home to investigate in detail. Smiling, Ty stretched his arm out and snagged the closest one from the bedside table, revelling in clean, soft sheets, sore muscles and Zane's scent all around him.  There was something decadent in just being able to laze around in bed while Zane made breakfast.

Especially when Zane had told him he'd earned it – with a smirk that promised more good things to come. Heat washed through Ty at the ideas his mind conjured up, but he merely breathed and stayed where he was. He was still too jumpy to rest easily and quiet time was helping him adjust. They had a few days at home before Ty was due back at work. For now, he had one of the many notebooks and he settled himself comfortably against the pillows and started to leaf through it.

 _Tom / lofty seats / fix balcony,_ was written in Zane's firm hand on one page, next to a sketch of the dusky kitten on the windowsill. Zane had caught the intent look on the little face so well, Ty imagined he could see Tom's tail wave back and forth excitedly.

The other pages in the book held numerous drawings of sleeping kittens in the oddest poses and locations, one of Jerry trying to climb out of his pen while Tom sat beside him and watched, several unfinished shopping lists, notes of the kitten's food preferences and rough sketches of... Ty.

Some were clearly doodles without reference to actual events, while others showed how hard their separation had been on his lover.  There were sketches of Ty asleep on the sofa, Ty sitting on the kitchen counter beer in hand and laughing, Ty catching at a ball game, and – over and over – Ty with Tom and Jerry.  It was disconcerting to see himself in Zane's sketchbook, the way Zane had envisioned him... as if he'd been here all the time.

Kneeling in front of the kitten pen in their spare bedroom the previous day, Ty had wondered how Zane could have kept the kittens a secret. Tom and Jerry were simply too entertaining.  But looking at Zane's sketchbook, Ty now had an idea.

His stomach growled to remind him that breakfast and Zane were close by and Ty rolled out of bed and headed for the shower.  Only to discover that there was no end to the changes in his home.  First, he almost tripped over a catnip mouse and a small glittering ball that lay forgotten on the carpet. Then he found a feather toy dangling from the closet's door handle when he went to find jeans and t-shirt, and more cat toys amongst his shoes. By the time he spotted the wooden plank propped like an impromptu ladder against the windowsill and the three-foot-high mesh covering the base of the balcony railing, all he could do was shake his head and smile helplessly.  Zane was so desperately trying to do this right it was adorable.  He'd probably bought a book on kitten-proofing your home and had worked through the thing page by page.

Ty headed upstairs first, but the kitten pen was empty.  Ty wasn't surprised. After all he'd seen so far, Zane wouldn't leave the kittens in their pen when he was up and about. Wandering downstairs, Ty found the black kitten – Jerry – curled on the sofa.  An ear turned his way as soon as he approached and green eyes opened to watch him carefully, raising Ty's hopes of one day training him into a decent guard cat.

Jerry sat up when Ty came close and Ty picked him up and cradled him against his chest.  The mouth-watering scent of frying bacon told him where to look for the other two occupants of the house and he slid silently around the corner to peek into the kitchen.

It took Ty a moment to parse what he was seeing. Zane was cooking up a spread: frying bacon and sausages, grating cheese, stirring scrambled eggs in a pan…while a small, dusky kitten sat on his shoulder. He hummed softly to himself while he worked and every now and then he reached up to stroke a finger over the kitten’s head, scratch behind a soft ear, or offer it a nibble of cheese. And Tom snuggled contently against Zane's neck, front paws braced against Zane's collarbone, as if it was the most comfortable perch around.

Zane must have felt Ty's incredulous stare, because all of a sudden he looked up and smiled.

"What?" he queried, before he turned back to the stove to give the scrambled eggs a stir.

"I was just thinking you'd make an awesome dad," Ty snarked. "Total dork and ready to jump at the most outlandish request at the drop of a hat. Or a phone call at 3 am."

Zane merely shrugged. "And that's bad... how?"

Ty thought that Zane seemed a lot calmer and more content than he he'd been before Ty had left. He was sure of it when Zane lifted Tom off his shoulder and handed him to Ty before he bent to fill the kitten's food bowls and set them on the mat in the corner.  Tom had taken up position on Ty's shoulder now, and Ty's fingers rubbed under Jerry's chin until the black kitten tipped his head back and purred. "Can't you tell when you're being taken advantage of?"

Zane leaned on the breakfast bar and smiled as he watched Ty playing climbing post and cuddle corner to the two kittens. Almost absently he reached for one of the notebooks and a pencil and started to sketch.  "Usually, yes," he said, while the pencil tip flew over the page. "But with those two, it's the other way around. I'm just paying back what I owe."

 


End file.
